The Rebellious Lady P
by soniabigcheese
Summary: In an alternate universe, what if Lady Penelope isn't the 'Lady' we all know and love?
1. Chapter 1 - Introduction

Things aren't exactly what they seem …

Jeff Tracy proclaimed to be a really good judge of character. After all, he chose Brains Hackenbacker his engineer for the fledgling company International Rescue.

However, he was having a hard time finding someone from another continent, just to let people see that, not only do they rescue people worldwide. But their company has agents worldwide too.

That is, until he received a frantic phone call from a Lord Hugh Creighton Ward. The man was beside himself with worry.

"Please, Mr Tracy," he begged, his rich baritone belied a slight quiver, "I need your assistance. I have tried everything. You are my last hope."

Jeff was surprised to hear from this British politician. He knew about the man's ambitions to run for Prime Minister some day, but to have the man contact him for assistance?

"Why, certainly Sir," Jeff replied amiably, "what can I help you with?"  
"It's my daughter."

Jeff stiffened. Oh yes, the delightful Lady Penelope.

"I do hope you aren't planning on marrying her off to one of my boys," he chortled, hoping that this wasn't the case.

Hugh laughed nervously.

"Why no. But I do have a pressing issue though."  
"I'm interested."

Hugh took a deep breath, and then rolled out the entire speech that he'd been working on for hours.

 _Penelope was a brat. Basically. She'd been kicked out of boarding school after boarding school, because she kept punching the teachers for telling her off. She'd dyed her hair so many colours that her father worried that one day it would fall out. And tattooed on the knuckles of one hand … the word BITCH._

 _He had to hire a specialist bodyguard to keep her out of trouble, and on his first day, she spat at him and tried to tackle him head on. Parker, being military trained, soon brought her down. But she still fought like a wildcat._

 _Her only saving grace was that she was a premium computer hacker and a walking information desk._

She didn't deserve the title of 'Lady' because she was far from it. International Rescue seemed to be the absolute last resort. If Jeff Tracy couldn't help, then nobody could, and he would have to kiss the title of Prime Minister, maybe even his cabinet post … goodbye.

Jeff paused, listening intently and nodded.

"I'll send a private jet over to bring her to Tracy Island, then we'll go from there."


	2. Chapter 2 - A clash of Egos

*warning, some mild language included in this chapter. If it offends, please refrain from reading, otherwise, please continue*

Jeff cleared his throat and stepped forward. This was going to be trickier than he thought. Surely Scott would see SOME good in this young woman with shocking pink hair and an extremely bad attitude.

"Perhaps you would like to accompany Miss Penelope…"  
"The name's Penny, got that?"  
"Oh .. uh … Miss _Penny_ … around the island and show her what we are all about?"

Scott snapped to attention, taking his focus off Penny and directing it at his father.

"Sir … yes. Sir."

Penny rolled her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something snarky, but thought better of it and closed it once more. Besides, the gum had her jaw working plenty enough already.

Scott threw a despairing/warning look towards his dad, who shrugged his shoulders and gestured to his eldest son to 'get a move on'.

Groaning, he hunched his shoulders up and marched forward so fast that Penny could hardly keep up. She waited until they were out of eyesight and earshot.

"So, do you _ALWAYS_ jump to your daddy's tune like a performing monkey then?"

Scott gritted his teeth and chose not to rise to the bait. But Penny was on a roll. Clasping her hands behind her back, she smirked.

"Bet it's really killing your ego right about now. Showing a _girl_ around the place instead of a man. You can't really show off your manly things with a _girl_ now, can you?"

Scott stopped and whirled around to face her, his finger jabbing into her face.

"I don't like you. Got that? And I think this is all a bad idea, okay?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah, well, the feeling's mutual. I think you're up your own arse and you don't like to be wrong. From what I've seen, your daddy's pulling all your strings."

Scott's nostrils flared angrily, but he kept his temper in check. After all, she wasn't the only female on the island. There was Kayo, and none of them treated her any differently or raised their voices at her. This young woman, however, was really pushing his buttons. After a couple of minutes, he managed to calm down somewhat.

"Do you still want the tour then?" he asked through gritted teeth.  
"Yeah, but I'd much prefer a nicer guide though. This one's an asshole."


	3. Chapter 3 - The Bodyguard and the Brawn

The Bodyguard and The Brawn

Parker stepped forward to follow Penny, but was stopped by Jeff.

"Hey, where'd you think you're going?"  
"H'it's my job Mr Tracy, h'if I don't keep h'an h'eye h'on 'er, goodness knows what mischief she could get h'up to."  
"If it's any consolation Sir, she's in good hands. My son will look after her."

Parker frowned, unconvinced.

"From wot I've seen, leave 'em together for too long and they'll h'end h'up killing one h'another."  
"They'll be fine. Trust me."

But even then the doubts started creeping in and Jeff watched as the two figures vanished from view. With a harrumph, he picked up one of the cases and turned to Parker.

"I'll show you to the guest rooms, and maybe we can talk along the way?"

Parker hefted the second case and shrugged.

"There's nothing to say Mister Tracy, we're 'ere by h'invite h'only."

He followed Jeff up the stairs, but couldn't resist looking back over his shoulder. If His Lordship hears about him letting M'lady out of his sight, he'd have his hide. They reached the roundhouse where the guest rooms were. Jeff dropped the suitcase and put his hands on his hips.

"Look, they'll be fine. Besides, what's the deal with Penelope?"  
"That h'is classified h'information Sir, and for the record, she prefers to be called Penny."

Jeff realised that he wasn't getting anywhere with Parker, so he opened the guest room doors and showed him their sleeping quarters.

"I'm guessing that you'll be staying here for a few days, yes?"

Parker nodded reluctantly.

"I've made sure that you have adjoining rooms so that you're right next door to her. Because I don't think she'd appreciate you sharing a room with her. If there's one thing teens/young adults prefer. It's their own privacy."

He strolled towards the windows.

"And look, you get an almost 360 degree view of the ocean."

Parker said nothing, just carefully started to unpack the contents of the cases and methodically put them away in drawers. Jeff took his silence as being dismissed from the room, and vacated it promptly.

Parker wasn't hostile, but he learned to keep his tongue when it was necessary. Besides, he didn't know this man from Adam and revealing too much could be damaging.

In the meantime, Scott had deliberately taken Penny along the longest route to the hangar, avoiding the living quarters altogether. In spots along the tunnels, when it wasn't dripping with humidity, the air conditioning hummed very loudly, drowning out any semblance of a conversation.

 _Good._

He didn't want to be in this woman's company any longer than necessary and he certainly did NOT want to strike up ANY kind of conversation.

Turning a corner, the tunnel opened up to a massive cave like structure. And standing pride of place was the green turtle that was Thunderbird 2. Sticking out from under its belly, were a pair of thick soled work boots.

"Hey Virge, how's it going?"

There was a mumble, followed by a swoosh as the small platform rolled out and Virgil sat up. He rubbed his hand over his face, leaving a streak of oil along his cheek.

"Looking good Scotty."

He frowned at Penny, who stood agape, her jaw almost trailing on the floor. She wasn't staring at the oil streak … but the fact that Virgil was stripped down to his waist, just a white… now gone grey … muscle shirt clinging to a well toned and heavily muscled body… that was glistening with sweat.

 _Whoa_

"Er, aren't you going to introduce us?" Virgil prompted, surprised that Scott wasn't showing off his lady friend as was the norm.

Scott jerked a thumb in Penny's general direction.

"She's a guest according to dad. She's staying with us for a few days. He's wanting to enlist her in our company."

Quickly smoothing down her hair, she stepped forward, offering her hand.

"I'm Penny, nice to meet you."

She grabbed his hand and felt her heart skip a couple of beats.

 _Nice handshake, good and firm._

"Can I get you a drink or something?" Penny offered, although she hadn't a clue where anything was. She just wanted to be in this hunk's presence and ogle at his rippling pecs and perfect washboard abs. What she could see of them.

"There's a bottle of water on the bench."

He'd barely gotten the words out of his mouth when she shot over to the workbench, grabbed the bottle and offered it to him with a trembling hand.

"Uh, thanks."

Scott watched her carefully and wondered if it would be a good idea to leave her in Virgil's hands. Because by the looks of it, she was smitten. Utterly and completely.

He felt a little relief, but also a pang of jealousy too. Usually he'd be the one fending off the girls. He was always flattered at the attention. Basked in it, if he was honest. But this Penny had the opposite effect. And now, here she was, hitting on his brother?

 _What did he have that Scott didn't?_

"Uh, Virge? If you're not too busy, want to show Penny around some more?"  
"Sorry Scotty, got to finish this off before she goes on another mission."

 _Damn._

"Fair enough."

He turned to Penny, who was glassy-eyed and bright pink, especially around her ears. She almost matched her hair colour.

"Can't I stay here?" she grumbled, "I could be useful."  
"No, dad said I had to give you the tour and that's what we're doing. C'mon."

He stomped off, hoping that Penny would follow. He turned his head to see her draped over the workbench, toying with a wrench. He whistled … a short sharp sound that brought her to attention, and poor Virgil to jump and bump his head on the underside of Thunderbird 2.

"Sorry Virge. See you around. And hey… we're on a tour here … get cracking."

Penny flipped him a birdie, before slowly and reluctantly dragging herself away from the object of her attention.

"You're mean, and I don't like you."


	4. Chapter 4 - Boffin

Boffin

As they marched furiously through the cavernous hangar, Scott reluctantly started giving Penny a running commentary about the Thunberbirds themselves. Their functions and what types of missions they would be more suited to.

Penny largely tuned him out. Because she was still thinking about Virgil and those pecs …

 _mmmm_

She wasn't looking where she was going, and bumped into someone, the clipboard went flying as well as a few other unidentifiable bits and pieces.

"Oh, oh. I'm sorry."

He adjusted his overly large glasses and smiled at her.

"Not … not at all."  
"Brains, this is Penny, Penny this is Brains."

Brains held out a hand and shook it warmly.

"Let me get those for you," Penny offered, stooping down to collect a couple of the objects.

She handed them over with what Scott noted, was a genuine smile. That was a first from this sour-faced person with a bad attitude. She looked at the clipboard, and then at the desk behind him.

"So, whatcha working on?"

Brains' head jerked up, surprised. Usually he'd be left alone, here in his laboratory, nobody to bother him. Unless he was required for maintenance.

"Oh…. oh… oh … n … n … nothing."  
"I see."

Ignoring him, she brushed past and sat down, looking at the schematics.

"Have you been having trouble with some of these equations?"

Nervously, Brains slid along side her and peered at the screen.

"I have. It's been a headache for weeks. I can't figure out what is going wrong, no m … m … matter how I try. Maybe I sh ….sh… should shelve it and start a … a… anew."  
"Don't."  
"What?"  
"Look, you've worked on this for all this time … and you're throwing it away? All that hard work? Maybe I can help."

Scott and Brains exchanged a look. As much as Scott wanted to put a stop to this, he couldn't help but notice how at ease Brains was around Penny. It felt as though they'd clicked.

Brushing her fingers through the code, she typed in a small line of text and integrated it into his original coding. The screen flashed, and suddenly, there it was! The new schematics scrolled up and instead of warning beeps, there was a 'would you like to continue' prompt on the screen.

"Well, I'll be."

Penny grinned widely.

"Piece of cake really. I just used a simple mathematical code and slotted it in."

Brains smiled widely.

"Th … th … thank you."  
"No problem."

She stood up, then paused.

"What were you working on by the way?"  
"Oh, a Mechanical Assistant … Experimental."  
"You should call it MAX for short you know. Mechanical Assistant whatzit it such a mouthful."

She glanced across at Scott who was standing there, arms folded, trying his hardest not to be impressed. She shrugged.

"Well, I suppose I'll have to go. Got the 'grand tour' don't you know."  
"Thank you once again … P … P… Penny."  
"It's fine. Cheers."

By now, the flavour of her gum had dissipated, so she took a piece of tissue from her pocket and wrapped the gum in it.

"Here."

Scott looked disgusted at the thoughts of handling something that came out of that mouth of hers.

"No thanks."

She rolled her eyes and pouted.

"Seriously? You're going to let me stick this under the desk or something?"

Her eyes fell on two erect ships. One bright red, the other silver. With a wicked twinkle in her eyes she pointed to the silver one.

"Hey, how about this one? I'm sure my gum will be useful for sticking some of those rusty panels together."

Scott flushed bright red and sputtered. She was insulting _HIS_ 'Bird?

"That happens to be _MINE_ ," he growled.

An evil grin spread across her face.

"Compensating for something …. are we?"  
" _No_."

She nudged him in the side with her elbow.

"I'm teasing here. Why don't you take that rod from up your arse for a minute. Didn't you ever get teased? Oh wait, don't answer that. You were born OLD, and gradually got OLDER."


	5. Chapter 5 - The Red Rocket

The Red Rocket

There was an awkward silence as Scott tried to keep his temper in check. Although he HAD to admit that her caustic attitude was … refreshing … no, strike that … challenging … to say the least. Apart from the occasional scraps from the rest of the family - not forgetting Kayo knocking Virgil flying during one of her training sessions - things were a little dull around the place.

Penny's eyes set upon the behemoth that was Thunderbird 3, in all it's fiery pillar box red glory. It kind of reminded Penny of London really. London, yeah, that busy metropolis where, if she'd hasten to admit, she loved the busy lifestyle. Sent away to many boarding schools, just because Daddy didn't want to deal with her … yeah, that went down REALLY well.

"So, whose ego is flying this one?" she asked.

Her neck hurt as she took in its immense structure and towering height.

"My dad," Scott said fondly, "but he's training my brother Alan to fly it when he's old enough."

"Oh. And does HE have an ego the size of that rocket too?"

Scott rolled his eyes and sighed.

"No, he's not old enough yet, but he's quite the genius though."  
"Who said anything about genius?" a young voice echoed through the hangar.

A scrawny looking kid with ruffled hair appeared, holding a portable games console.

"Scott, you said you'd play with me."

Scott flipped his eyes to Penny, and back to his kid brother.

"I'm kinda busy here you know."

Penny just gaped at Alan.

"You? You're the one who is going to fly THAT thing?"  
"Yep."  
"Exactly HOW old are you? You don't look old enough to be out of nappies kiddo. No offense."

Alan looked crestfallen but Scott stepped in.

"Leave him alone will ya?"  
"Sorry, but I don't see how he could fly that thing. Did your dad train you from birth or something? And what does your mother say about this? I'll bet she had a few things to say."  
"Actually, our mother is dead."

Well, didn't that go down like a lead balloon?

It hit her square in the chest, as a familiar ache appeared.

"I'm … I'm sorry."

Well shoot, that was overstepping the mark a little, wasn't it?

"She died in an avalanche accident," Alan replied softly, "It happened when I was very very young, so I couldn't remember what happened."

Scott looked pained and stood there silent. Alan continued.

"It's the whole reason behind International Rescue really. There weren't any rescue teams available to help out at the time. So he decided that there should be some. Us. Ready in a moment's notice."

Another awkward silence, until Alan piped up.

"Hey, Scotty, there's still a slot for you in my zombies challenge … if you're interested."

Penny was going to make a snarky retort about what a pointless thing playing video games was, but the mood at that moment had changed and she didn't really want to make it much worse.

"Haven't you got homework Alan?"  
"Nope, done it already. That's why I've got all this time to myself."

Scott didn't want to cause a scene, so he patted Alan's shoulder and suggested that he help Virgil or Brains with routine maintenance or something.

"I think we're nearly done with the tour," Scott said quietly, "let's head back to the main house and our living quarters."

Penny just nodded, lost in her own thoughts that she didn't see another blond haired man peering around the corner. If she had, she'd have certainly noticed the garish yellow Hawaiian shirt and would have made some snotty comment about it. Although her fashion style wasn't much better. Ripped jeans thrown together with a gaudy pink and black shirt, the ends knotted at her waist, and a worn leather jacket, strung up with chains and stuff.


	6. Chapter 6 - A Knockout Encounter

A Knockout Encounter

As they wound their way up some steep steps, Scott pointed out a bright yellow submarine submerged in a tank.

"That's my brother Gordon's. Obviously, his specialty is underwater rescue."  
"How many brothers do you have?"

He glanced at her. She shrugged.

"Just an observation, that's all."  
"There are five of us, you've met Virgil and Alan, then there's myself …"  
"Did your dad adopt Brains? Because he certainly doesn't look anything like you lot."

Scott laughed.

"No, well… sorta. He took him in to help with the design of our 'Birds."  
"Birds?"  
"Nicknames we've all given our machines."  
"Oh."

He coughed.

"As I was saying, there are five of us. Gordon's somewhere around. Probably swimming laps in the pool…"  
"You have a _POOL?_ "

He gave her a ' _well d'uh_ ' we have everything here.

"He also has an Olympic gold medal."  
"Cool."

There was a pause, where Scott smiled despite himself. She might have been a tad defensive earlier, but maybe, just maybe…. he shrugged that feeling away.

"And then there's John."  
"John."

The conversation stopped right there as they reached the top of the stairs and he held the exit door open. She stepped through and gaped openly at the massive swimming pool and the living quarters.

"Oh, wow."  
"Yeah, took dad ages to figure out how to utilize the whole island. Should have seen the amount of funding he had to put together to get this thing under way."

She'd never seen anything like this. It was surreal, and much more stylish than that stuffy old ancestral home of hers. They didn't even have a pool. They did have an extensive wine cellar … and an underground emergency bunker/security system. But a pool.

 _Wow, just … wow._

A figure hauling herself effortlessly from the pool, made Penny blink. She was a tall, stunning beauty with long graceful limbs and jet black hair, tied in a long ponytail. She had the most vivid yellow green eyes. They were penetrating. Penny felt like an ugly duckling beside her.

 _A stumpy ugly duckling._

"That's Kayo."  
"Kayo?"  
"Actually, my name's Tanusha but I dropped it. I prefer to be called Kayo."  
"Oh."

Penny fiddled with her jacket and looked away she couldn't meet Kayo's direct gaze for some reason. She felt so humbled and unworthy.

"What's your name?"  
"This is …"  
"I'm … Penelope …. erm … Lady … Penelope."

Scott's eyebrows shot up with surprise. She'd made it quite clear that she only wanted to be called Penny and nothing else.

 _Well, wasn't this a surprise?_

Penny stuck her hand out and waited for Kayo to shake it. Which she did. It was a firm handshake. Brief but firm. There was something about this female that said 'look, don't touch'.

 _And. Wow. That perfect skin. Just. Wow._

Just then, of all the things to happen, Penny gave out a wide yawn. She was still on British time and jet lag had crept up on her all of a sudden.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to be rude. I just suddenly feel all tired here."

Both Jeff and Parker appeared. They'd been sitting by the poolside chatting quietly when they saw Penny and Scott. Parker looked relieved that they hadn't nearly tried to kill one another as he'd incorrectly predicted. Jeff beamed all over his face, knowing that he'd chosen well for his 'tour guide'.

"Parker will show you to your sleeping quarters, and once you're refreshed, we can all sit down and have dinner together."

Scott winced and coughed, shuffling slightly, before joining his father's side. Jeff put his arm around Scott's shoulders. They watched as the two guests headed off towards the round house.

"So?"  
"She's a pain, she's got a bad attitude and …."

Jeff squeezed his son's shoulders affectionately.

"She's a little rough around the edges, that I do know. But what do you _REALLY_ think son? Be honest here."

Scott paused, trying to think of a way to phrase this, but nothing came to mind, just the simplest and bluntest way possible.

"I don't think it'll work."

Jeff laughed heartily, dropping his arm and walking to the bar.

"Give it time. Besides, we need the opinions of the others first before we make that final decision."

Scott slumped in his father's chair.

"I hope you know what you are doing dad. I really do."


	7. Chapter 7 - The King of Wisecracks

After a good couple of hours, Penny jolted awake to the smell of something burning. Was there a fire? It certainly didn't smell like melted plastic and burned metal. But it was close. Besides, the fire alarm wasn't going off and there wasn't the sounds of shrieking people running all over the place in a flat out panic.

And how did she know all of this?

Chemistry lessons at school. She'd learned quite a lot about how to get out of class without being caught, and Chemistry classes were the ones she looked forward to. There was always someone that would set something alight. Mainly her, but she wasn't splitting hairs here. Not to cause major damage, but enough for everyone to stand outside and heads be counted in the pouring rain.

Yeah, she never thought that one out properly. She guessed that that was karma speaking. You can't have joy without a little pain.

Dragging her feet out of bed, she noticed that the room was a little dimmer than usual. It must be mid evening here. At least the intense heat had dissipated. Or was it the climate control quietly humming in the background?

She tried to quietly move around the room, putting lights on and picking out her clothes, but there was a light tapping on the door. Rolling her eyes she groaned.

 _Bloody Parker._

She swore he was part bloodhound, part radio signal. He could hear a pin drop on the other side of Mars!

"Get lost Parker, I'm not dressed."

But the tapping persisted.

Hastily dragging on her jeans and tugging her tee shirt over her head, she stomped off towards the door and flung it open, ready to let loose a mouthful of obscenities towards her bodyguard.

She froze as she took in the form before her. Loud Hawaiian shirt, roughly gelled blond hair and the most gorgeous chocolate brown eyes she'd ever seen.

Never mind Virgil, this hunk was stunning.

Except maybe for the confident swagger. He was leaning against the door frame, a sly grin on his face.

"Well hello there."

She blinked, stupified briefly, before composing herself. Putting her hands on her hips, she glared at him. He appeared nonplussed by this show of aggression.

"What do you want?"

Without batting an eyelid, he straightened up and offered his arm.

"I'm Gordon Tracy, at your service and I've been sent to accompany my Lady to dinner."

She looked at him in disbelief. _Was this kid serious?_

" _Are you shitting me?_ " she blurted out, before realising her gaffe.

He barely raised his eyebrows and tilted his head and wiggling his elbow at her.

"Dinner? My Lady?"

She looked at his proffered arm, and back at him. He seemed so genuine and honest. He rolled his eyes.

"For the record, would you have preferred it to be my pain in the arse big brother Scott?"

Well, she could have had worse. Sighing, she dragged her fingers through her hair.

"I've got nothing to wear."  
"You look fine to me. We don't stand to ceremony here."

His eyes dropped to her feet.

"Although, we do have a strict dress code regarding footwear."

She blushed furiously as she turned and looked at her ragged sneakers.

"We do like people to wear shoes … see?"

He lifted one of his legs and pointed at his own foot. He was wearing ragged sneakers too.

 _A kindred spirit … perhaps?_

"Wait there."

He laughed, it was a nice, deep melodious laugh, and shoved his hands in his pockets, shrugging slightly.

"I'm not going anywhere."

She hastily pulled her own sneakers on, and stopped briefly to try and tie the laces, cursing as her hands just wouldn't behave themselves. Gordon, seeing her distress, walked in, knelt down and with deft fingers, managed to tie both laces - not together, obviously. He stood up and winked.

"You know, you didn't have to do that. Tucking them into the sides is the latest fashion… don't you know."

She looped her arm through the crook of his and they walked out of the room, Parker appeared from his quarters … right on cue and took in these two, his bushy eyebrows raised so high that they almost touched the ceiling. Penny waved sheepishly, wishing that her wardrobe was filled with prettier stuff than the jeans and tee shirts that she favoured so much. Parker fell in behind them.

As they made their way down to the kitchen, the smell of burning got stronger. Gordon patted her hand reassuringly.

"That's just Grandma," he said quietly, "she's a great old lady … but can't cook for shit."

He blushed and bit his lip, forgetting that he was in noble company.

"Sorry, I meant …"

She laughed and lightly punched his arm.

"It's okay. I wouldn't exactly call myself a 'Lady' just yet."

He paused and looked at her, an open honest smile on his face.

"You are to me. … well, in my eyes you … are."

He lowered his eyes and flushed, biting his lips, trying to think of loads of compliments for this pink haired lady. But couldn't. His mind had gone to mush. The king of wisecracks was lost for words!

There was a long and awkward pause, so they continued walking. It seemed as though this walk was taking forever. Although it only took about 10 minutes .. tops.

Suddenly, Gordon stopped and tugged at Penny to get her attention.

"Just a couple of things."

She nodded.

"One, don't insult Grandma's cooking, no matter how nasty it looks or tastes. Got that?"  
"Got it. And … two?"  
"If you REALLY want to annoy Scott, I can show you how to prank him without him finding out who did it."

The door opened to a flurry of activity. And the acrid smell of something that had been cremated twice and put up for offerings to what deity should have the unfortunate task of accepting it.


	8. Chapter 8 - Offerings

Offerings From a Domestic Goddess

Leading Penny to the table, where everyone else was sat, she half expected some kind of wisecrack from … say Scott. But instead, she couldn't help noticing how tense they all were.

"What's going on?" she whispered to Gordon.

He leaned in.

"It's kind of a tradition here."  
"What is?"  
"Grandma's cooking," Alan butted in, "we're waiting to see what it is this time."  
"It smells like shit, if you ask me."

Six pairs of eyes whipped around and glared at her, including those of her bodyguard Parker. Virgil put his finger to his lips.

"Shh, she's not supposed to hear."  
"Hear what?"

The gravelly voice came from the vicinity of the kitchen.

"I might be old but I ain't deaf you know."

She approached with a large platter of food and placed it on the table, right in front of Penny.

"Since you're the guest here, I think you should have the honour."

Penny looked down at the platter, and back up at everyone. Scott was smirking.

 _The smug shit._

"I … I'm really not that hungry. But thank you all the same."

Her stomach growled very loudly.

 _Traitor._

Grandma Tracy pushed the platter even closer and winked.

"See, I know you haven't eaten since you've arrived. You need some food inside you or you'll be fainting all over the place."

Gordon nudged her and nodded, mouthing ..

"Sorry."

… when he thought his grandma wasn't looking.

Gingerly, Penny used a fork and prodded the food. Some of it collapsed under a puff of ash. The rest just smoked happily.

"Uh, what is it?"  
"A surprise."

Great, she wasn't even going to tell her what it was.

Lifting a piece of, whatever it was, onto her plate, she picked up her knife and cut into it. A table saw would have done a better job, it was that tough. And spicy. Very _VERY_ spicy. She couldn't handle spicy foods, they made her ill.

All eyes watched as she lifted the morsel to her mouth and popped it in. She chewed. Once, then spat it out.

" _WHAT THE FECK IS THIS SHIT?_ " she bellowed, jumping up from her seat, " _I've tasted worse shit from a dustbin. THAT…_."

She declared quite strongly, pointing to the offending item.

" _… isn't even fit for a dog to eat, let alone a human_."

Immediately, Parker stepped forward and grabbed her arm.

"M'lady, you 'are a guest 'ere and should h'act like one h'accordingly."  
"No fricking way. I'm not eating that. No chance. I'd rather starve."

She wrenched herself free and stormed off, Parker in hot pursuit. But not before he turned and apologised to the stunned host and the rest of the family. Gordon jumped up, but was ordered to sit back down by his father.

"But dad."  
"No son. Leave it."

Jeff walked over to his mother and put his arm around her tiny shoulders. She looked so defeated right now.

"It's okay mom, she didn't mean it."

Scott still sat there, that smug grin plastered permanently on his face.

Scott 1 Penny 0

As far as he was concerned, she'd just signed the death warrant on any chances of joining International Rescue. Snaking his hand along the table, he grabbed an apple and bit into it contentedly.


	9. Chapter 9 - Midnight With Starman

Midnight With Starman

She ran through the living quarters, panic threading through her veins. This place was worse than her ancestral home. At least she knew where all the secret doors were so that she could avoid her shadow, Parker.

Here, the corridors looked all the same.

Eventually, she managed to get to her room, threw open the bathroom door and started drinking down beakers of water. Her mouth felt on fire, and although she hadn't actually swallowed any of the spicy food, her near empty stomach was doing flip flops.

She didn't hear a small knock on her room door, or Parker telling the visitor that she wasn't to be disturbed. But by the time she'd pulled herself together, she appeared only to see him standing there with a small box of fruit and a note.

 _'thought you might prefer these, they're full of vitamins and goodness … your friend …  
_

 _Brains'_

She didn't feel like peeling an orange … or biting into a persimmon. But it was nice to know that she had at least one ally here.

Wow.

 _She really must have made an impression on him._

Come to think of it, she hadn't seen him at dinner. Maybe that was for the best? That he'd been the smart one here?

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she kicked off her sneakers and looked at her toes, curling and uncurling them. Parker stayed where he was, impassive but watchful.

"You don't have to stand to ceremony here Parker," Penny grumbled, "I've already made an ass of myself as it is. We may as well start packing our stuff."  
"No, M'lady. We're 'ere for a few days."

She groaned, pulling her feet up and stretching on her back.

"Great, thanks Dad. Way to get me out of your hair … asshole."  
"That's no way to talk h'about your father, Miss. 'e's a good man."

She rolled on her side and looked at him, plucking at the blankets.

"Since when? All he ever does is send me away so he can't deal with me. What kind of father is that?"

Parker shrugged and joined her, perching himself on the edge of the bed.

"E's worried h'about you."  
"He's got a funny way of showing it."

Parker tentatively touched Penny's hand, half expecting her to snatch it away and launch a punch at him. He was prepared for that. He wasn't prepared for the heart to heart chat though.

She did flinch slightly, but only to look down at his big calloused hand covering hers.

"I've really screwed up now, haven't I?"  
"H'it's not my place to say, M'lady."  
"I know, but I can tell by the tone in your voice."

Parker suddenly felt uncomfortable, coughed slightly and stood up.

"P'raps I should go see wot h'everyone is doing?"

Penny waved a tired hand at him, she yawned sleepily.

"And I'd better have some more sleep, then figure out how the hell to get out of this stupid situation."  
"You do that M'lady. Goodnight."

Parker closed the door softly and made his way back down to the kitchen area. In the meantime, Penny just lay there, staring at the ceiling and sighing heavily.

Yep, she'd messed this one up too. It was her lot in life. She was never going to live up to her father's expectations. She'll always be the black sheep of the family, the embarrassment etc.

She flopped her hand down onto the nightstand and suddenly a hologram appeared.

"Can I help you?"  
"Whatever…. wait … what?"

She jerked upwards and stared at the solemn face looking at her.

"Who the hell are you?"

He should have looked affronted, but his passive face gave away nothing.

"I'm John," he replied, "pleased to meet you."  
"Yeah, well, you won't be. Not after I've managed to upset practically everyone here."  
"I know, I heard."

She drew her knees up, propped her arms on them and buried her face in the sleeves of her tee shirt. Her eyes were starting to sting. Maybe she was tired … or maybe there was a lot of dust here … she wasn't getting upset. She just wasn't.

"Yeah, well, you can go tell Scott that he's won, I'm not in the program any more. He'll be happy. Should have seen his face just now. All beaming and happy. Smug shit."

John hovered, waiting. If there were any emergencies, maybe, just maybe they could wait a little while? Or be deferred to the GDF or something. They didn't have to answer EVERY call.

Penny rubbed her eyes and was surprised to find her fingers wet.

"You know what caused all of this?"

Silence.

"Of course you wouldn't, you haven't lived with my dumb stupid family."

She glanced across to John, who simply nodded slightly to acknowledge that he was paying attention.

"It was my mother. Things were going great, until she walked out. Then things went to shit after that. I acted out because I wanted attention. But never got it. From what I gathered around the staff, I remind him too much of my mother. He didn't like that. That I was a constant reminder of the woman who'd ditched him for a younger model."

You know, it felt better, opening up like that. It was as if a great burden had lifted.

"Alan is our constant reminder of our Mom," John said, eventually, "we felt the same way but pulled our resentments to one side and became united."  
"Yeah, well, you have your brothers. There's just me… see? I was left to fend for myself. And I've been doing a shitty job so far."

Suddenly there was a distant alarm.

"I have to go, there's an emergency. It was nice meeting you."  
"Yeah, same here."

Penny almost cracked her jaw with the biggest yawn she could muster, before tugging the blanket up and curling into a deep sleep.

Just outside the door, Grandma Tracy, despite being offended at their guest's rather blunt outburst, took it upon herself to check in on the girl. Maybe get to the root of her anger and hostility. She paused as she heard her second oldest grandson chatting to their guest…

… and she felt for the young girl as she poured her heart out to this complete stranger.

Grandma Tracy smiled to herself, feeling proud of John. Her grandson who could coax even the shyest person to open up. He was wasted, up there in space. He could have been a brilliant psychiatrist or something. But he'd been adamant that space was where he felt most at home. So she never argued with him.

She might have been the matriarch of the family, but she respected her family's opinions.


	10. Chapter 10 - High Court

High Court of The Tracy Family

Whilst the household came and went, rescues were sporadic to say the least, Penny remained in her room, dutifully yet reluctantly attended to by Parker who occasionally muttered under his breath.

 _I wasn't paid for this._

But despite their differences, she had to admit that she relied heavily on him, seeing him more and more as a father figure. On occasion, she'd get visitors. Each one gently rebuffed as Penny sunk deeper into her own self inflicted miserable self loathing.

The door might have been a barrier, but the holocomm system wasn't, and she found herself being face to face with John, gently butting in with some of his off the wall humour.

Seriously.

His humour was just … bizarre. And Penny liked it. When he wasn't busy looking out for emergencies - and there weren't that many this soon into their business - he'd float in space, sharing anecdotes with Penny. He'd quote Shakespeare - often incorrectly - which had Penny in fits of giggles. She'd gently chide and remind him that she was … after all … British … and to misquote Shakespeare was mortifying to say the least.

He then began to drop suggestions about letting the others in to see her.

"They're all worried about you."

That's when she'd close up, curl up and shut up.

"I don't need anybody," she would mutter.  
"Fair enough, but please bear this in mind and don't close them out."

And still, they checked in on her, all taking turns to chat with Parker, get a debriefing about her health and well being, and offerings of food (mainly snacks that they had to filch from the cupboards when Grandma's back was turned).

With the exception of Scott who'd chosen not to associate himself with this 'brat' of a girl. His displeasure of her existence here, on their private island didn't go unnoticed. He'd gotten it into his head that she was a rotten egg and that her presence would be a threat to the company. He made no bones about it, complaining continuously to anybody who was unfortunate enough to be within shouting distance.

They were all used to his rants. He complained about practically everything. And was largely ignored. But Jeff decided that enough was enough. The deadline was approaching and decisions had to be made.

So he had a family gathering - with John on the holocommunicator. Everyone sat around, waiting, even Brains had managed to extricate himself from his laboratory.

This was a momentous occasion, more so than they all realised. Up until now, they were a nuclear family - relying on each other. But since the GDF had given them a little more free rein, this meant that they needed to branch out a little more. Get more agents involved. They might have 'eyes in the sky' but that was is. They also needed feet on the ground. That sort of thing.

Jeff, for the first time since the loss of Lucy, didn't have a tumbler of whiskey in his hand. He needed to have a clear head for this. He paced the floor, his eyes skipping over the people gathered.

The elephant in the room, that was their surly guest upstairs, needed to be addressed.

"So, what do you think? And be honest, this is very important."

Scott was the first one to pipe up - as was always going to be the case.

"I don't like her, she'll bring the company down, give us a bad reputation."

Jeff listened to Scott's rather long-winded rant, nodding occasionally, and taking sips from his coffee. Finally Scott ran out of steam, folded his arms and fell back in his seat, a smug grin on his face.

"Fair enough son. Now, who's next?"

Everyone else shifted in their seats, all of them looking very uncomfortable indeed. That is until John's soft voice drifted over the speakers.

"She's a little rough around the edges, Dad. But I think there's potential there."

Scott snorted.

"Yeah, _WHEN_ we get to see her. So rude, sitting up there not even bothered about interacting with any of us."

Gordon sniggered.

"You most like," he said pointedly.

There was a ripple of muted assent around the room. Scott opened his mouth, then closed it again, flushing furiously. John coughed, drawing attention back to him.

"As I was saying, she just needs a little polish here and there. There's an intelligent head on those shoulders …"  
"Yeah, if you can find a situation where you can quote Shakespeare to people."

John glared at his older brother, who was sitting grinning smugly.

"What good is that on a rescue … huh?"

Everyone knew that Scott was baiting John, but … as had been proved time and time again, Scott never ever won any type of argument with his younger brother. Jeff interceded.

"Boys … enough. Let's get back to the point here."

Alan - the eternal ray of sunshine - was next.

"She's a bit … mean…"

Scott snorted again. This was going better than he'd expected. They'd be shipping Parker and that brat off the island pretty soon. And out of their lives forever.

"But she speaks her mind. I like that."

 _Damn_. Scott was hoping that his kid brother would take his side here.

"Grandma?"

Oh this was going to be good, Scott mused. When it boiled down to making the decisions here in the household, nobody could hold a candle to Grandma. Her word was LAW.

"I'll let everyone else speak first, I've got to get some cookies out of the oven first before they burn."

 _WHAT?! SERIOUSLY?!_

Everyone glanced fearfully at one another. There was no escape here, since it was a meeting and not everyone had had their say.

"Kayo?" Jeff prompted, "you're not saying much. What about you?"

Kayo shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Despite the fact that she'd been around the Tracy family for years, she still couldn't get it into her head that she was practically family and that her opinions counted. She glanced nervously at Brains, who just nodded slightly.

"Well, as Scott said … we've hardly met her or got to know her…."

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Scott nodding in agreement. She took a deep breath.

"I might be talking out of context here but … I think we should extend her stay … get to know her better. And maybe … decide after that?"

She bit her lip and looked down in her lap. Across the way, Scott's face like thunder. This was not going the way he'd hoped at all. Gordon leaped up, fist pumping excitedly.

"Yay! Good one Kayo. I second that."  
"You would," Scott muttered, "anything to get under my skin."

Gordon ignored him and held his fist out to Kayo, who reluctantly bumped it. Secretly, she'd hoped that she hadn't made a wrong decision here. She hoped that her rather evasive reply was enough.

"Virgil?" Jeff prompted his middle son, "how about you?"

The peacekeeper of the family, coughed slightly, leaned forward and simply said.

"I agree with Kayo."

That left Brains and Grandma Tracy. So far, that left everyone in favour of keeping Penny as their newest agent. But that could all change, especially if Grandma Tracy said no.

Scott realised that everything was hanging on her final decision. Glancing back to the kitchen where he saw her busying around the place, he had to do something.

Fast.


	11. Chapter 11 - True Colours

True Colours

"Uh, dad?" Scott pretended to squirm in his seat, "I … uh … really need to …."

Jeff rolled his eyes.

"Can't it wait, we're in the middle of a conference here."  
"Well, Grandma was allowed to leave. See?"

He gestured over to the kitchen area to make his point. Jeff nodded, conceding defeat.

"Fair enough, but don't be long, we need to get this settled once and for all."

Scott fairly leaped out of the chair and bolted through the living area and up the stairs, barely concealing a wicked grin.

I'll show you, he thought, I'll let you see who is right here.

He might not have the programming experience or technology smarts as his brothers John and Alan, but he knew how to bypass the holocomm system and make private calls. How else could he have chatted to a few lady friends of his? Since moving here to the island, they'd been pretty much isolated and he'd missed his old friends back home.

Unless of course John had fixed that little 'glitch'.

Nah, he had to take that risk.

Popping the cover off the relays system, he quickly ran his fingers through the data stream, tweaking and moving the coding around a little. It was crude and sloppy, but it got him by. He held his breath, waiting for some alarm to go off … as he'd always done, ever since he'd discovered this neat little trick.

Nothing.  
Phew.

The holocomm flickered in Penny's room.

"Hello?"

She frowned when she saw Scott's face, the last person she wanted to speak to.

"What do you want … asshole."

Scott choked down a caustic reply, took a deep breath and began. He was doing this for the good of the company. That's what he believed in. That's what mattered.

The company.

"Fine. But just to let you know, there's a meeting downstairs … and they're all talking about you. I think you should be there."

He quickly signed out, put the cover back and headed to the bathroom to wash his hands - in the pretense of everyone thinking that this was what he'd needed.

His trick had worked, because, just as he was walking down the stairs, Penny burst through the door, her face bright red and livid. She shot straight up to Jeff, her finger pointing right up at him, anger flaring up in her eyes.

" _So, this is how you treat your guests huh? Huh? Have a meeting where they're not included? And then proceed to talk about them behind their backs? That's not nice at all. In fact, I'd call that RUDE._ "

Scott's plan was working. Here she was, showing herself up, right in the middle of everyone. She'd played right into his hands once and for all.

Nice.

All he had to do was to wait for the fallout and that'll be the end of this spoiled little brat


End file.
